The last Quilting Points session of the semester is on Thursday the 3rd of December, for which we are reading Stuart Hall's 'The Work of Representation' (1997). Note: we are only reading chapters 3&4—although feel free to read the whole thing! Hall makes a broad analysis of theories of representation, linking the thought of Saussure, Barthes, Foucault, Marx, and Gramsci as they negotiate the relationship between language and society. This text will also prepare us for next semester's reading, in which we will look at the theorists and philosophers who influenced Hall's work.

As always, everyone is welcome to attend. We look forward to seeing you there.

The Quilting Points reading group continues reading Stuart Hall on Thursday the 19th, with his 1986 paper 'The problem of ideology: Marxism without guarantees'. To supplement the reading there is a documentary about Karl Marx and Marxism, presented by Hall. As ever, Quilting Points is an inter- multi- cross- and counter-disciplinary reading group, and everyone is welcome to attend.

The Quilting Points reading group continues reading Stuart Hall with his influential essay 'Encoding/decoding'. As a supplementary text we have Hall's excellent 1997 video lecture 'Representation & the media'. As always, everyone is welcome to attend, regardless of discipline or department.

The Quilting Points reading group continues reading Stuart Hall with his 1993 paper 'What is this "black" in black popular culture?' As a supplementary text we have Hall's 1997 video lecture 'Race: the floating signifier', a brilliantly clear and engaging lecture which comes highly recommended. As always, everyone is welcome to attend, regardless of discipline or department.

Time: 3:30–5:30pm Date: Thursday 8th October 2015 Venue: SR01, Leeds Humanities Research Institute, 29–31 Clarendon Place (campus map) Main Text: Hall (2011) The neo-liberal revolution (download) Supplementary Text: Hall & O'Shea (2013) Common-sense neoliberalism (download)
Each year Quilting Points conducts a close and critical reading of an influential thinker, examining a number of texts and fostering interdisciplinary critique. Everyone is welcome to attend, regardless of discipline or background, and all are invited to join the discussion.
This year we take the work of Stuart Hall: cultural theorist, sociologist, public intellectual, and figurehead of British cultural studies. Over the course of the semester we will cover a cross section of Hall’s corpus, beginning with his last peer-reviewed article ‘The neo-liberal revolution’ (2011).
We will also provide supplementary texts in the form of interviews, video lectures, and documentaries, which enhance our understanding of the…

Our next meeting is Wednesday, May 20th. We will discuss Giorgio Agamben's "The State of Exception as a Paradigm of Government," which you can download here. Ryan Topper and Benjamin Chwistek, Quilting Points directors, will introduce the discussion. Agamben in Pasolini's The Gospel According to St MatthewWe will meet in the Leeds Humanities Research Institute from 15:30-17:30. As always, all are welcome.

April 22nd: Michel Foucault, 'Parresia'
Our first meeting back after the Easter break will be on April 22nd. In it we will be discussing the recently translated 'Parresia' by Michel Foucault.
Introducing the discussion will be Andrea Basso, PhD student in the School of Classics.

We will meet in the Leeds Humanities Research Institute from 15:30-17:30. As always, all are welcome. Ben Chwistek and Ryan Topper Directors, Quilting Points 2014/2015

Easter Break
Leeds University is currently on Easter Break, and so are we. We will be back on April 22nd with more exciting discussions. If you have any discussions about our upcoming meetings, please email us on: quiltingpoints@gmail.com or find us on Twitter @LeedsTheory In the meantime, enjoy the break, this girl clearly is.

This Wednesday, we will discuss Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri's "Biopolitical Production," a chapter from Empire. Click here to download the PDF.
We hope to interrogate the ways Hardt and Negri interpret and build upon Foucault's work, so feel free to bring relevant Foucault texts to the discussion. Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt. Wikimedia Commons
Quilting Points co-directors, Ryan Topper and Benjamin Chwistek, will introduce the meeting, which will take place from 15:30-17:30 in the Leeds Humanities Research Institute.

February 11th: 'The Malthus Effect: Population and the Liberal Government of Life'In our second meeting of this semester we will be reading Foucault's concepts of biopolitics and biopower through the lens of Mitchell Dean's essay on Malthus and the Liberal Government of Life. The text will be introduced by David Wingate, PhD Student in the School of Earth and Environment.
For anyone who did not make our last session, it is recommended (though not required) that you read Foucault's 'Right of Death and Power over Life'. A link to the text can be found in our previous blog post.
In addition to the Foucault text, we will be reading Mitchell Dean's essay, which is available here: 'The Malthus Effect: Population and the Liberal Government of Life'

This semester we will be meeting at the slightly later time of 15:30, and will be finishing at 17:30. As before, we will be meeting in the LHRI Seminar Room. As always, all are welcome.

January 28th: 'Right of Death and Power over Life' The first meeting of 2015 will be on Foucault's 'Right of Death and Power over Life'. This will be the first meeting focusing on the theme of biopower and subjectivity, which we will be building on throughout the semester.
Introducing the text will be Ed Powell, PhD student in the School of English and Ben Chwistek, PhD student in the School of Classics and co-director of Quilting Points.
A link to the text can be found here:'Right of Death and Power over Life'

This semester we will be meeting at the slightly later time of 15:30, and will be finishing at 17:30. As before, we will be meeting in the LHRI Seminar Room.